Girl Show 2: The Art of Female Masturbation Review

Girl Show #2

Mike Lyons Reviews

Studio

Pandora Bazaar

Director

Anders Manga

Cast

Kylie Ireland, Logan Labrent, Keri Windsor, August, Tina Tyler, Nikki Steele, Kylie Kurves & Victoria Givens

Genre

Female Masturbation, Vignette

Audio/Video

Good video with some artifacting and editing glitches. Very good audio with nice balance of music and performer sounds

Extras

Extra scenes, Interviews with Keri Windsor, Kylie Kurves, and Victoria Givens. Anders Manga music video, and vignette poetry--"Diary Entries"

Music

Very good music that effectively added mood and eroticism to the scenes without getting in the way of the sex. Anders Manga wrote and performed most of the music.

DVD Format

1 Single Sided, Single Layer Disc

Condoms

None

Female Orgasms

5-7

THOSE WHO MIGHT LIKE IT

Fans of female masturbation. Fans of vignette pornography and unusual production style. Anyone looking for a little intellectual stimulation with their pornography.

THOSE WHO SHOULD STEER CLEAR

Most raincoaters. Anyone who wants to see boy/girl sex. Anyone who insists on bright, static lighting and is uninterested in enhanced production.

IF YOU LIKED THIS TITLE, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Other Pandora Bazaar efforts like Girl Show, Pandora's Box, and Going Down. Other female masturbation titles like the She Squirts series, and Real Female Masturbation. Other girl/girl videos like the No Man's Land series, or The Four Finger Club

FOR THOSE WHO CARE--A NOTE ABOUT LIGHTING:
In the interest of further espousing my belief that production sensibilities and choices can contribute in subtle and artistic ways to the overall impact of adult entertainment (just as with any other form of entertainment), I thought I might touch a little bit on lighting. Many people make the incorrect assumption that the lighting behind your average well produced porn video is no more than turning on wall switches and opening some curtains. In most cases, this is simply not true. Lighting can be an extraordinarily complex and subtle artistic medium, contributing just as much as good camera work, the right outfits, and good locations. After all, in the most basic sense, where there is no light, there is no vision, and if we can't see what's happening, there's no reason for us to watch it. Moreover, careful control over and understanding of highlight and shadow and accentuation of form can make an otherwise beautiful woman even more beautiful, while lack of attention to these elements can result in performers who don't look their best. Unfortunately, VERY few producers in the adult industry understand how to take full advantage of lighting as a means of a clear, unfettered, yet flattering and even artistic presentation of the action they are recording. The result of this lack of full understanding is one of three methods of production: 1.) Bright, and functional lighting from all angles. This is a cheap, easy, and excellent way to go as it at least allows us to see the action. This type of lighting is most predominant and can be seen in most gonzo porn of today, including movies from Red Light District, Ana/Diabolic, Elegant Angel, etc. 2.) Poor, bare bones lighting. This type of lighting is, unfortunately pretty predominant as well. All but the best and most expensive broadcast quality video cameras require much more lighting than can be provided by your average ceiling mounted light fixture at home. An attempt to go with less than is required results in grainy picture quality, undesirable shadows and throngs of frustrated porn fans who can't see their favorite stars. 3.) Attempts at good and artistic lighting that fail miserably. One of the worst offenders in this arena is Jim Powers--but he is by no means the only one. This often involves the over-use of deep color, poorly executed attempts at accentuating form and establishing mood through highlight and shadow, and inadvertently asking too much of too little equipment. These scenes tend to be the worst not only for the lack of an acceptable AMOUNT of light, but also for upsetting the natural skin color of the performers in an amateurish attempt to use color. Clearly, for those who really don't understand what they are doing, my choice would be for them to always err toward option #1. HOWEVER, lighting, when well executed, can contribute to a scene in fantastic and subconscious ways. Although lighting is principally handled by the videographer (or in the case of film, the cinematographer) of a shoot, some directors are worth mention for their consistent and exceptional use of the medium for adult entertainment: Michael Raven has produced movies with exquisite lighting. John Stagliano has proven good understanding of how to make use of the medium--especially in his films. Antonio Adamo clearly spends a large amount of time on lighting, and uses it beautifully. Even principally gonzo director Rocco Siffredi has effectively used light as more than just illumination. While a full discussion of the intricacies of lighting design for entertainment is well beyond the scope of this review, it is my belief that like any other form of entertainment, production elements (both good and bad) can contribute in both profound and subtle ways to the overall impression of the product. For me, when someone does it really well--it's a joy to watch and worthy of praise and attention.

PREFACE:
Pandora Bazaar is a new kid on the block in the landscape of porn producers. They formed in September of 2001 and over the last year or so have brought a welcome sense of vitality and fresh ideas to the porn world, due in no small part to co-owner Anders Manga--a very accessible, intelligent, and young-at-heart fellow who has shown that he deeply respects the porn consumer. Anders seems to run his company without pretension and the result is an image of a free-spirited and creative group with ideas that attempt to explore human eroticism in less than conventional ways. Of late, they have produced some highly critically acclaimed videos, including Going Down, Girl Show, and Pandora's Box. Even if I come in with a bit of a bias against female masturbation (the theme of Girl Show #2), this was enough to make me sit up and take notice.

INTRODUCTION:
Girl Show #2 is the latest of Pandora's offerings. Its tagline is "The Art of Female Masturbation", and while I have to admit to being quite bored with most female masturbation scenes, I decided to give this one a whirl anyway out of curiosity for the different slant that Anders Manga might take on the topic. Both YogaGrrl and Astroknight have written excellent and very complimentary reviews of this title, and as always, I encourage you all to read as many perspectives as possible. What I might hate, they might love, and vice versa, and only you can decide who is most representative of your tastes. The cover certainly looks interesting enough with some nice flirty photos of Kylie Kurves and Pandora contract girl, Victoria Givens. I'm anxious to see if this one (as YogaGrrl has said) can both appeal to my libido and my intellect. I figure even if it only manages to appeal to one of them, the time spent writing this review will not be wasted.

SCENE 1: A Saucer Full of Dissolute
KYLIE IRELAND
The Girl
I have to admit that I don't tend to follow women like Kylie Ireland. The women featured in Girl Show 2 tend to be of the older variety--not old, but older. As seen in my porn tastes above, I tend to like younger women, or at least younger looking women. I'm well aware of who Kylie Ireland is of course, and I've seen her in action in the past, (she has a good scene by my tastes with Evan Stone in Michael Raven's Erotica) but she's never really appealed to me too much. Kylie looks like her typical self here, and is presented nicely with nice red hair and wearing some pink, silky nightwear.

The Action
Music starts playing as the camera explores Kylie sitting in a large chair in front of a television. The TV is showing her another girl masturbating in black and white. The lighting in the scene is interesting, but quite dark. There's still a clear enough picture of Kylie rubbing her tits and fingering her wet pussy, though even if the shadows are a bit extreme. The music, however, is very interesting and several cuts above that found in your average porn movie. Kylie starts slow with nipple rubbing and spreading her pussy lips, and builds the intensity through the scene as several fingers penetrate her pussy which responds with suitably sexy slurpy noises. The mood is one of watching a woman pleasing her self with the aid of what she sees on the screen rather than a woman performing a masturbation scene for the viewer--a nice touch. Kylie eventually comes, or at least pretends to cum before the scene fades to black.

The Gist
This scene was interesting, but for me, not a turn on. There was a very clear attempt made to establish mood with lighting, music and video post production techniques that I quite appreciated. I'm not sure how successful it was, however, as even though there was a human element there that I couldn't deny, the environment was cold there was a layer of detachment present that made it less interesting. I had a personal pet peeve against the fuscia colored lighting fixture that shot its beam up the back wall behind the chair, but it did offer an important element of background, even if it was a bit tacky. However, Kylie performed nicely, and there are some interesting close-up explorations of her pussy. Even though I wasn't into it, I can certainly see where some others might be.

Kylie Ireland Video Capture
Click for Larger Size

SCENE 2: The Quiet Room
LOGAN LABRENT
The Girl
I don't think I've ever seen Logan before. She's a fairly sexy looking woman with long dark hair. She has exceedingly large, unnatural tits (which pretty well disgust me), but some fairly nice legs and a pair of nicely provocative eyes.

The Action
Logan is in what we assume to be a rubber room--a cell in some kind of mental ward. The tag line at the beginning of the scene is "You're never alone when you're a schizophrenic". After Logan teases the camera with her eyes and some slow explorations of her body, we see that she is actually in some kind of straight jacket on the floor of the room imagining herself masturbating. Both Logan's are shown to us in the same room as the one in the straight jacket looks on as the one in the sexy lingerie gets very involved in playing with her pussy. Images that intimate of Electro-shock therapy flit across the screen occasionally as the scene progresses and builds. The most interesting part of the scene comes when Logan comes--fake or real she made me believe it, and I always enjoy watching a female orgasm.

The Gist
This was an interesting scene. Unfortunately, the casting again bled all my sexual interest away and I had to rely on intellectual content to get me through it. Logan simply did not interest me, and had this scene been cast with someone who did, I probably would have enjoyed it much more. On the other hand, I didn't much relate to the sexuality of the situation presented. I think I understand it intellectually, in the sense that masturbation and orgasm provides stimulation and release that can serve to dull the pain of confinement and isolation, and that there is in some way a universal human element there that can serve to arouse us. Although I'm not sure that was the specific intent of the scene, what I did see was not clear enough and not well constructed enough to immerse me in its psychology. Again, I might have felt differently, however, with a cute performer who didn't brandish the ridiculous rack--but I doubt it.

Logan Video Capture
Click for Larger Size

SCENE 3: Things to do in the Waiting Room When You're Bored
KERI WINDSOR & AUGUST
The Girls
Keri Windsor, if I'm not mistaken has been around for quite a while. I have to admit that she's the cutest girl so far in this movie. She has long blonde hair and a pretty face and body. She wears a red sweater over a red and white printed mini dress. August isn't too bad either, but she's not quite as interesting as Keri. August is a slightly chunkier girl with long, red, curly hair and a decent face. She wears a black sleeveless shirt, some black stockings and a plaid skirt.

The Action
Some playful, yet moody music plays as each girl sits across from the other in the waiting room of a doctor's office. Both read magazines, but Keri's pretty antsy and keeps sneaking looks at August. August catches her and instead of backing off, Keri decides it's a sign to open her legs and show August her pussy. August looks on with interest as Keri gets more and more adventurous. Eventually the two women start playing off each other and in turn rub themselves and reveal their pussies and tits to each other. As with the other scenes in the movie so far, the music is quit interesting and fades more into the background as the sounds of masturbation and moans take more of a front seat--quite satisfactory. Keri particularly looks quite fetching as she rubs her clit before pulling a pocket rocket out of her nearby bag. Luckily August has a gold dildo, so it's all good. Both women play with themselves until they both cum. They then dress and look naughtily at each other as they await their respective doctor's appointments.

The Gist
This scene has the distinction of being the first in the video to actually turn me on. Perhaps it was because of the interaction between the two women, but I expect it was simply because of a more palatable premise and the presence of a genuinely cute girl in Keri Windsor. I was pretty aroused watching her, and watching her interact with August. I wished that there was more of an element of the danger of being caught present in the scene, as this thought never even crosses the mind of either woman. I think that if that aspect was heightened, there could have been potential for more sexual excitement. On the other hand, what was there worked nicely, and even though I don't usually go for female masturbation, there are exceptions, and this scene was one of them.

Keri & August Video Captures
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SCENE 4: One Shot... & Down in the Purse
TINA TYLER
The Girl
The last movie I saw Tina Tyler in was an Antonio Passolini "Transmission" (::groan::) called Bliss. It was a while ago, and my wife and I watched that one together. Although the highlight of that movie for both of us ended up being Chloe, Tina is still quit the sexy little vixen and she's one of those rare, more mature women in porn that I don't mind watching now and again. For those newbies out there, or for porn fans who haven't been paying attention the last several years, Tina is a pretty but stern looking woman with dark hair (although here it's red) and a great, well proportioned body. When she's not looking hot and bothered on camera, though, she also directs for Pandora Bazaar

The Action
A pretty interesting and rockin' song plays as we are introduced to what looks like a hotel room in a seedy part of town. The seedy part I get from the horrible fuscia light blinking on and off supposedly entering through a window. A series of subliminal text messages flash on the screen as we see Tina in the hotel room wearing a business suit. She eventually settles onto the bed, though, and takes out a pistol. Underneath her business suit, she's wearing quite the getup which includes a leather fetishy top that has holes for her large breasts and fantastic black stockings on her legs. As you might expect, the gun becomes a masturbatory tool and Tina puts on quite the performance in terms of sexual energy. She eventually comes with the butt of the gun in her pussy as she fingers herself to climax.

The Gist
Yep--there's no doubt about it. Tina is a sexy woman. The lighting in this scene was simplistic and unnecessarily dark. Although I appreciate the mood that was created with it, there was an overuse of strong color, and the illumination on Tina herself was one dimensional, and did not flatter her as well as it could have. Regardless of that, however, Tina rose above those shortcomings nicely and delivered a damn hot masturbation scene. I loved her black stockings and her sexual energy was undeniable. This again goes to show that for me, casting makes the difference.

Tina Video Capture
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SCENE 5: The Barfly
NIKKI STEELE
The Girl
Nikki is a very stripper-esque looking lady with glossy lips and shoulder length wavy hair. She's fairly decent looking and wearing a garter belt with black stockings underneath a bar maid's uniform.

The Action
Nikki is closing down the bar after what I assume is a long night of work. She settles onto a bar stool and slowly peels off her outfit as she starts touching herself. The set is again adorned with lighting of fairly broad, strong color strokes and sets the mood of a dark bar at night. Nikki eventually gets onto the bar itself and strips down to only her garter belt and stockings and really starts to work herself over. After a fair amount of pussy fingering, she grabs herself a glass bottle from the bar and uncorks it with her mouth. She then sucks on it like a dick for a while before starting to rub and penetrate her pussy with it. She fucks her cunt quite thoroughly with her newfound glass friend, and then has an orgasm (or at least pretends to). She gives the bottle some "post cum head" before the scene fades to black.

The Gist
This was another scene that did relatively nothing for me. Nikki had a nice body, but I didn't like her face or hair well enough to really be too interested. The bottle was an interesting touch, and certainly my lack of interest wasn't the result of Nikki's lack of trying. She puts on a convincing performance and works herself over pretty good with the bottle. She also looks pretty hot in her black nylons while doing it. In all though, she wasn't my type, the setup didn't stimulate me, and that bottle just wasn't a dick--as much as Nikki tried to pretend otherwise.

Nikki Video Capture
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SCENE 6: The Class Cutter
KYLIE CURVES & VICTORIA GIVENS
The Girls
Victoria Givens is a pretty cute southern girl with long curly dark hair and a decent body. She's wearing a simple blue dress. Kylie Curves is a very large breasted cutey with shoulder length reddish-brown hair and an appropriately sex body. Kylie is wearing a very Britney Spears-esque schoolgirl getup, but doesn't look near as hot--but that comparison is a bit unfair. Both women are good looking, but for some reason neither of them send me over the edge with a "gotta-have-em-now" feeling.

The Action
Both women are wandering separately through the woods. Victoria is apparently the "crop duster's wife" and Kylie is allegedly the "class cutter" as is outlined by the informative subtitles. I'm not sure how these two women relate to each other, but I have a feeling that they are going to have a naughty encounter in the forest that neither daddy nor crop duster would be too pleased to hear about. The attention first focuses on Kylie who conveniently finds a blanket all laid out for her in a forest clearing. She slowly strips down to her socks and sneakers and reveals a nicely shaved pussy and what look to be large augmented breasts. Even so, she is looking quite sexy here as she produces an acrylic dildo and starts rubbing, then pumping her wet pussy with it. Meanwhile the crop dusters wife is demonstrating her horniness as well as she lets her breasts fall out of her dress and plays with her self standing up. The two women meet up on the blanket and they summarily abandon the concept of female masturbation as they start to "kiss" (a.k.a. tongue wag), followed by Victoria going down on Kylie. The two women switch places as Kylie eats Victoria out and pumps her pussy with her fingers. The women seem really into each other, and they talk to each other during the scene, which I find very erotic. They leave each other like they found each other--going their separate ways in the forest.

The Gist
I found this scene pretty erotic, but I can't help but be disappointed that it wasn't a masturbation scene. The theme seemed to lend itself perfectly not to an encounter in the woods, but to a girl masturbating on the blanket, while another girl voyeuristically watched her from behind a tree while bringing herself to her own orgasm. While that didn't happen here, there were still some nice moments with some nice looking ladies. They had a good rapport and put on good performances. Finally this was the best and most interestingly lit scene in the movie, kindly provided by the sun with it's parallel rays scattered by the natural gobos of tree foliage--the director wisely allowing mother nature to do all the work.

Kylie Curves & Victoria Givens Video Captures
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PRODUCTION QUALITY:
This movie was surprisingly ambitious in its presentation of "The Art of Female Masturbation". The camera work was very good, and the editing was surprisingly complex, yet in tune with the action and mood of the piece. There was certainly an artsy feel to the movie which both lended itself well to the themes introduced while at the same time not interfering with the sexual energy at the heart of the action. The music was excellent and while not knock-your-socks-off great, was certainly first rate in terms of complementing the thematic content of this disc. One thing that I consider a weak point was the lighting, which looked more like the work of an amateur theatrical designer than the work of a professional videographer. It did an excellent job of setting the mood, but it was dark and lacked the form and highlight that could have made it exquisite.

DVD QUALITY:
The video of the disc was good, but not without its occasional glitches. The sound was quite good, and achieved a nice balance of musical mood versus the raw sexual sounds of the performers.

EXTRAS:
There are a number of nice and unusual extras on this disc. The first is a short scene with Victoria Givens called "Squirtula" where she masturbates on a couch for a few minutes. The next is a music video featuring Anders Manga and his song, "Glamour" which is actually somewhat entertaining and interesting. I can't really understand his lyrics due to some production choices, but then again, how many rock songs do you know of where you can REALLY understand the lyrics? There's a scene called "The Great Outdoors", which is a 30 second spot showing Victoria peeing in the woods. There are a couple of interviews which vary in quality featuring Keri Windsor, Kylie Kurves, and Victoria Givens. And finally there are diary entries that correspond to some of the scenes in the movie. They are basically just small bits of poetry that add another dimension to the scenes that they recall. In all, a very interesting collection of extras to accompany an equally interesting video.

OVERALL:
This was certainly a hit or miss disc for me, and admittedly it is not a disc I would normally gravitate toward, so that bias should be taken into account when looking at my rating and during your selection process. However, when it hit, it was surprisingly erotic. My favorite scene of the bunch was Keri Windsor's with August. The combination of my attraction for Keri and the interaction of the two women along with the more intellectual stimuli of theme and unusually artistic production combined to awake a nice hard on underneath my desk--and it remained throughout the scene. Tina Tyler's scene got by on the merits of Tina Tyler alone, a woman I find beautiful who puts on a dazzlingly sexual performance with the assistance of a handgun--even if I could barely see her. The last scene came in third with two women who I found quite sexy, even with the altered boobies. The other three scenes on the disc did very little for me--mostly I dare say because of my lack of interest in the performers. I still say that were it not for my intellectual interest in this title, I would not have picked it up, but if you're into female masturbation, I would highly recommend giving this a try. Even though its artsy, this is female eroticism at its most natural, without the typical pornographic use of toys that jam into pussies until they are black and blue. If you're not normally a female masturbation fan, you might want to try renting this one if you're ever in the mood for a surprising change of pace. Anders' vision might grow on you and linger in your mind a good while after watching it, much like it has done for me.

Questions or constructive comments about this review? Email me at MLyons@my.adultdvdtalk.com


Other Adult Movie Reviews by Mike Lyons